SECOND DIVISION

[G.R. No. 174584. January 20, 2010.]

VICTORIA P. CABRAL , petitioner, vs . JACINTO UY, MICHAEL UY,

MARILYN O. UY, RICHARD O. UY, REY IGNACIO DIAZ, JOSE PO and
JUANITO MALTO , respondents.

DECISION

ABAD , J : p

This case is about the power of courts to hear criminal violations of the law that
protects subdivision buyers against developers selling lots before they are issued
licenses to sell and the effect of the subsequent issuance of such licenses to sales that
land developers make before the issuance of their licenses. AScHCD

The Facts and the Case

Respondent Jacinto Uy (Uy) is the chairman of Moldex Realty, Inc. (Moldex); the
other respondents are its o cers and directors. Uy entered into a joint venture
agreement with Quintin Bernardo for the inclusion into Moldex's residential subdivision
project in Bulacan of two parcels of land, totaling 20,954 square meters, that Bernardo
held under two emancipation patents. 1
On June 21, 2001 Moldex applied for a license to sell subdivision lots in the
project mentioned with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) 2 but the
latter denied the application for failure to comply with the requirements. 3
On July 2, 2002 petitioner Victoria P. Cabral led a criminal complaint 4 against
respondents Uy, et al. for violation of Section 5 of Presidential Decree (P.D.) 957,
alleging that she was the registered owner of the lots subject of Bernardo's
emancipation patents. She said that prior to the transaction between Bernardo and
respondent Uy, the latter offered to acquire the lots from her but she refused because
of the pending case for cancellation of the patents that she led against Bernardo with
the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board.
On April 28, 2003 the public prosecutor's o ce led a criminal information
before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City 5 in Criminal Case Q-03-116823 against
respondent Uy and the other Moldex o cers, namely, respondents Michael Uy, Marilyn
O. Uy, Richard O. Uy, Rey Ignacio Diaz, Jose Po, and Juanito Malto for selling subdivision
lots to a certain Josefa C. Yanga without a license from the HLURB. 6
Subsequently, however, or on September 17, 2003 the HLURB issued Moldex the
license to sell that it needed. 7
Respondents Uy, et al. led a motion to quash the information and motion for
judicial determination of probable cause 8 claiming that the o ce of the prosecutor
and the trial court had no jurisdiction over violations of P.D. 957, such jurisdiction being
with the HLURB alone and, granting that they could take cognizance of the case,
respondents Uy, et al. could not be held criminally liable because the HLURB
subsequently issued them a license to sell. 9
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 On May 20, 2004 the trial court denied the motions of respondents Uy, et al. 1 0
On June 15, 2005 it also denied their motion for reconsideration, 1 1 prompting them to
appeal to the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP 90468, which court granted their
prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order. 1 2 On June 2, 2006 the latter
court rendered a decision, 1 3 upholding the trial court's jurisdiction over the subject
case but ordaining its dismissal, given that the subsequent issuance of a license to sell
extinguished respondents Uy, et al.' s criminal liability. Petitioner Cabral led a motion
for reconsideration but the appeals court denied 1 4 it, hence, this petition. EHSADc

Required to comment on the petition, the O ce of the Solicitor General joined

the petitioner in asking this Court to reverse the CA's decision.
The Issues Presented
The issues presented in this case 1 5 are:
1. Whether or not the office of the public prosecutor and the trial court have
jurisdiction over criminal actions for violation of P.D. 957; and
2. Whether or not HLURB's subsequent issuance to Moldex of a license to
sell extinguished respondents Uy, et al.' s criminal liability for selling subdivision
lots prior to the issuance of such license.

The Court's Rulings

First . Conformably with what this Court ruled in Sia v. People , 1 6 the CA correctly
upheld the public prosecutor's authority to le the criminal information for violation of
P.D. 957 and the trial court's power to hear and adjudicate the action, the penalty being
a P20,000.00 ne and imprisonment of not exceeding 10 years or both such ne and
imprisonment. This penalty brings the offense within the jurisdiction of that court.
Second . P.D. 957 has been enacted to regulate for the public good the sale of
subdivision lots and condominiums. Its Section 5 prohibits such sale without the prior
issuance of an HLURB license 1 7 and punishes those who engage in such selling. 1 8 The
crime is regarded as malum prohibitum since P.D. 957 is a special law designed to
protect the welfare of society and ensure the carrying on of the purposes of civil life. 1 9
It is the commission of that act as de ned by law, not its character or effect that
determines whether or not its provision has been violated. Malice or criminal intent is
immaterial in such crime. 2 0 In crimes that are mala prohibita, the forbidden acts might
not be inherently immoral. Still they are punished because the law says they are
forbidden. With these crimes, the sole issue is whether the law has been violated. 2 1
Since the Information in this case su ciently alleged that Moldex sold a
subdivision lot when it did not yet have a license to do so, the crime was done.
Assuming the allegations to be true, the subsequent issuance of the license and the
invocation of good faith cannot reach back to erase the offense and extinguish
respondents Uy, et al.'s criminal liability. aSTECI

In ruling that respondents' criminal liability has been extinguished, the CA relied
on Co Chien v. Sta. Lucia Realty and Development, Inc. 2 2 But Co Chien is a case for
refund of down payment and nulli cation of the contract of sale between the buyer and
the developer whose license was issued only after the execution of the contract. This
Court refused to void the transaction in the case because the absence of the license
was not in itself su cient to invalidate the contract. And while there was no fraud on
the part of the developer, the HLURB directed it to pay an administrative ne of
P20,000.00 for selling the lot without the necessary license. This only shows that the
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 subsequent issuance of a license, as in this case, will not extinguish the liability of the
developer for violation of Section 5 of P.D. 957.
WHEREFORE , the Court GRANTS the petition and REVERSES and SETS ASIDE
the June 2, 2006 Decision and the August 22, 2006 Resolution of the Court of Appeals
in CA-G.R. SP 90468. The Court REINSTATES the May 20, 2004 Order of the Regional
Trial Court of Quezon City in Criminal Case Q-03-116823, which denied respondents'
omnibus motion to quash and motion for judicial determination of probable cause.
SO ORDERED .
Carpio, Brion, Del Castillo and Perez, JJ., concur.

Footnotes
1. Emancipation Patent No. 446684, rollo, p. 287; and Emancipation Patent No. 446685, id. at
283.

2. Id. at 298.

3. May 2, 2002 Certification of the HLURB; id. at 323.

4. Id. at 111.

5. Branch 83.

6. Rollo, p. 360.
7. Id. at 300.

8. Id. at 132.

9. Id. at 300.

10. Id. at 105. Issued by Judge Estrella T. Estrada.

11. Id. at 108. The Order was issued by Judge Ramon A. Cruz.
12. CA rollo, p. 265.

13. Rollo, p. 42, penned by Associate Justice Arcangelita M. Romilla-Lontok and concurred in by
Associate Justices Marina L. Buzon and Aurora Santiago-Lagman.

14. Resolution dated August 22, 2006, id. at 43.

15. The issue of whether or not petitioner has the personality to question the dismissal of the
criminal case has been rendered moot because the Solicitor General, in representation of
the people, joined the cause of the petitioner, as in the case of Merciales v. Court of
Appeals (429 Phil. 70, 77 [2002]), thus ful lling the requirement that all criminal actions
shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the public prosecutor.
16. G.R. No. 159659, October 12, 2006, 504 SCRA 507, 517.

17. Sec. 5. License to Sell. — Such owner or dealer to whom has been issued a registration
certi cate shall not, however, be authorized to sell any subdivision lot or condominium
unit in the registered project unless he shall have rst obtained a license to sell the
project within two weeks from the registration of such project.

The Authority, upon proper application therefor, shall issue to such owner or dealer of a
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 registered project a license to sell the project if, after an examination of the registration
statement led by said owner or dealer and all the pertinent documents attached thereto,
he is convinced that the owner or dealer is of good repute, that his business is nancially
stable, and that the proposed sale of the subdivision lots or condominium units to the
public would not be fraudulent.
18. Sec. 38. Administrative Fines. — The Authority may prescribe and impose nes not
exceeding ten thousand pesos for violations of the provisions of this Decree or of any
rule or regulation thereunder. Fines shall be payable to the Authority and enforceable
through writs of execution in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of Court.

Section 39. Penalties. — Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this
Decree and/or any rule or regulation that may be issued pursuant to this Decree shall,
upon conviction, be punished by a ne of not more than twenty thousand (P20,000.00)
pesos and/or imprisonment of not more than ten years: Provided, That in the case of
corporations, partnerships, cooperatives, or associations, the President, Manager or
Administrator or the person who has charge of the administration of the business shall
be criminally responsible for any violation of this Decree and/or the rules and
regulations promulgated pursuant thereto.
19. Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Rawle's Third Revision, p. 2066.

20. Go v. The Fifth Division of Sandiganbayan , G.R. No. 172602, September 3, 2007, 532 SCRA
130, 136.

21. Garcia v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 157171, March 14, 2006, 484 SCRA 617, 622.
22. G.R. No. 162090, January 31, 2007, 513 SCRA 570.

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